For a two-wheeled vehicle and the like, a handle bar is provided with a switch device so as to operate a variety of vehicle-mounted devices (for example, a winker, a headlamp and the like) not only during stop but also during traveling. In recent years, an operation switch of the switch device is additionally provided with a variety of functions such as a switching of a traveling mode and the like, in addition to the control of the winker and headlamp. Accompanied with this, the number of mounted operation switches is also increased.
Patent Document 1 discloses an example of the above switch device. The switch device of Patent Document 1 has a plurality of operation switches. Each operation switch is provided with a part to be contacted formed at a switch case and a sensor formed in correspondence to a position of the part to be contacted. The operation switches are respectively provided in correspondence to the vehicle-mounted devices. When a finger of a passenger is touched to the part to be contacted, the sensor detects the touch and a predetermined electric signal is transmitted to the vehicle-mounted device.
In a configuration shown in FIG. 2 of Patent Document 1, a rib for partitioning the operation switches arranged in a vertical direction is formed on a front surface of the switch case. A finger tip operating any operation switch abuts on the rib, so that it is possible to prevent a next operation switch from being unintentionally operated. Also, in a configuration shown in FIG. 5 of Patent Document 1, the part to be contacted has a concave shape, and in a configuration shown in FIG. 6, the part to be contacted has a convex shape, so that the operation can be easily performed by the concave and convex shapes.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-112018A
However, according to the switch device of Patent Document 1, when the number of the vehicle-mounted devices is increased, the number of the operation switches to be provided is correspondingly increased. For this reason, the number of components and the cost for molding are increased and the structure becomes complicated.
Also, when the rib is formed in an intermediate region of the front surface of the switch case in the vertical direction, as shown in FIG. 2 of Patent Document 1, the operation switch cannot be provided in the region where the rib is formed. For this reason, according to the shown configuration, a region where the operation switch can be provided is limited, and an operation range by the finger tip is also limited.
Further, when the part to be contacted has the concave or convex shape, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 of Patent Document 1, the shape becomes complicated, which increases the cost as regards the molding and the like. Also, since the operation of the finger tip is performed only at the concave and convex portions, a degree of operation freedom of the operation switch is decreased.